


From the Squirrel's Point-of-View  (The Practicality Remix)

by Highlander_II



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Animals as Characters, Gen, Remix, Remix Duello, smart animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-20
Updated: 2010-09-20
Packaged: 2017-10-12 01:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/119060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highlander_II/pseuds/Highlander_II
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a brave, hungry squirrel willing to get food however she can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From the Squirrel's Point-of-View  (The Practicality Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Topaz_Eyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topaz_Eyes/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Squirrel Philosophy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25902) by [Topaz_Eyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topaz_Eyes/pseuds/Topaz_Eyes). 



> This _just_ registers as a House MD fic, but the characters from the original make an appearance, so it counts.

"You can't possibly be thinking of going over there, Shelly!" Millie cried.

Shelly peered over her shoulder. "Why not? There's food. And I'm starving."

"But...!" Millie cried again. "People! They're dangerous. They'll kill you. Or trap you!"

Shelly rolled her eyes. "They're not going to trap me. They don't have any traps."

"You don't know that! They could be hidden or camouflaged!"

"Stop being so over-dramatic. It's embarrassing," Shelly huffed and started toward the 'people'.

Millie reached for her, tried to hold her back. "Wait! The furry one looks dangerous!" But Shelly had already started away. Millie pressed herself against the safety of the tree's trunk.

Shelly, meanwhile, was halfway down the branch that would drop her onto the railing of the balcony. 'Drop her near the peanuts being offered in her direction. Neither of the people looked all that dangerous to her. The other one even appeared to be close to hibernating.

She could still hear Millie whining from the tree: 'What is that noise they're making?' 'What if it's a trap?' 'What would your mother think?' Shelly ignored it all. There was food to be had.

As she reached the end of the branch, she sat back and scrubbed dust off her whiskers with her paws. She swished her tail, maintaining her balance on the end of the branch. The person on the balcony chittered at her and she tilted her head, trying to determine if it was anything she could understand. It wasn't as best she could tell, though she had trouble with Millie shouting at her from the other end of the branch.

She turned and squawked at Millie to be quiet. She was trying to nab some munchies. Having Millie distracting her would make that much more difficult. Shelly ignored her friend and jumped off the branch onto the balcony railing. The peanuts were mere inches away.

Small steps, chittering away as the person made sounds beckoning her closer. Shelly assumed the noise meant it was okay to eat the peanuts. Just to check she glanced at the peanuts, then at the person holding them, then at the peanuts again. They didn't disappear - the peanuts - so she moved closer, hunkered down close to the railing and reached out to snatch one of the peanuts in her teeth.

She moved back several inches, sat back on her haunches and nibbled quickly on the peanut. Food. The weather hadn't been cooperative this year and she hadn't been able to store enough food to cover the winter and the days leading up to it. All the others thought she was crazy for staying so close to all the people, but people had food - lots of it, all the time - and she saw no reason not to take advantage of that. She had food - for her and her babies - and if the others didn't approve of her methods, they could go hungry.

The furry person moved suddenly. It scared her back into the safety of the tree branch. She pressed a paw to her chest, her little heart racing. Millie, back in the tree, gasped and squeaked - obviously certain Shelly was going to die at the hands of the furry person. That was almost enough to get her climbing back down to the railing. But she waited for the handful of peanuts to settle on the edge again before she crept her way back down.

She looked at them curiously while nibbling on the nut, watching them communicate with one another in much the same way she and Millie and her friends communicate. As she listened, only two of the words had become clear in her head and recognizable: 'House' and 'Jimmy'. She supposed those were their names and that 'House' was the furry one.

Another jump back to her safe branch when they moved again, but once they were no longer watching, she scrambled down to collect as many of the peanuts as she could carry, then scampered back up to the tree. Millie was nearly hyperventilating.

"You could have been killed! Or captured! Or worse!" Millie was shrieking.

Shelly rolled her eyes again. "Oh, calm down," she said, stashing her food in her nest for later. "House and Jimmy wouldn't hurt us. They leave food. See." She pointed back to where a few peanuts remained on the balcony.

"What? Names? How do you know it's not a trap?"

A sigh, followed by, "It never has been before."

And it wasn't ever a trap after that. Jimmy put out nuts and seeds for them all the time. Sometimes House would set out some other things. But they never set any traps.


End file.
